Ethan Hunter and Madeline Bott were supposed to have their dream wedding last month. Photo: Maddie Bott.
Less than two months ago, 26-years-old Madeline Bott lost the love of her life and fiancé Ethan Hunter.
Mr Hunter and work colleague Mark Fenton both lost their lives at a level crossing on Eurabba Lane in Bribaree, which is approximately 70kms north-west of Young.
The pair were in a B-double road-train truck carting gypsum from one side of a farm to the other when their truck collided with a freight train at the passive crossing, which only had a “stop and look for train” sign.
The level crossing that took the lives of Ethan and Mark on Eurabba Lane. Photo: Maddie Bott.
For Ethan, completing this load was just a side-gig to help one of his friends as his main job was working on his family’s farm.
Mark is described as a treasured and loved husband to Lynne and father to Franky, Hugo and Jetty who are all aged from their early teens to late teens.
Madeline who is a registered nurse in Orange, said the work colleagues were both “hardworking and reliable men who did not take risks”, that if there were lights, both would have still be here today.
“This railway lines view is obstructed with overgrown grass and a significant amount of trees,” she said.
“I will never be able to bring Ethan back, but I can fight to make sure I do all I can to prevent anyone else going through the pain I feel.”
Today, Madeline is petitioning for all level crossing across Australia to be active and have flashing lights to alert when a train is coming. Initiated on Change.org, the petition has taken off and now has over 15,000 signatures.
The petition on Change.org. Photo: Change.org.
Madeline said the petition was all about mustering community support as she moved forward to approach local Weddin Shire Council Mayor Clr Mark Liebich, as well as Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke MP on how this matter can be raised and addressed at a higher level.
Later today at 5pm, Madeline will be speaking at the Weddin Shire Council and just earlier this month, Madeline visited Steph Cooke MP’s office and the Member for Cootamundra said “You are right, we need to do something about it. We need to keep our communities safe”.
Additionally in a Facebook post, Steph Cooke MP said, “I will provide every support to Madeline to ensure her online petition can be presented to NSW Parliament and that collective calls from our community for improved railway level crossings, are heard”.
According to Madeline, the matters are currently in the preliminary stages of legalities and another petition specific to Parliament, had to be made. 500 signatures will achieve a Minister response and 20,000 signatures will create a debate at NSW Parliament.
The NSW Parliament ePetition “Improving safety at level crossings” by Ms Bott already has over 2,000 signatories.
The e-Petition to NSW Parliament. Photo: Parliament of NSW.
Madeline’s is also hoping to meet some Transport Ministers, as well as other members from the Federal Government.
Aside from her petitions, Ms Bott started up a Facebook page “Eurabba Heroes”.
Eurabba Heroes’ Facebook page by Maddie Bott. Photo: Facebook.
This is a page for ongoing updates throughout her campaign and families and friends have been encouraged to join to raise awareness to the issue of safety at level crossings.
Along the way, the platform allowed many to reach out and share similar stories of tragedies from across Australia.
One story included a young man and two of his friends being killed on a passive level crossing in WA, 21 years ago.
Another story reached out to Ms Bott of a daughter who said her father was hit at a passive level crossing near Narromine, and even had attempts to start a petition.
Accidents at level crossings have been significant for the past two decade, with over 1,000 near misses and 30 fatalities each year according to ARTC.
There are more than 23,500 railway level crossings in Australia and only 21 per cent of that number are active, meaning that they have boom gate lights to alert you when a train is coming.
An astounding 79 per cent of level crossings are passive and it can take a fully loaded freight train up to 2km to stop, after the emergency brakes have been applied.
The incline onto the crossing on Eurabba Lane. Photo: Maddie Bott.
In rural towns, factors such as dust, fog, overgrown grass, trees, harvest and sowing season all contribute to the increase in heavy-vehicle traffic.
Christopher Tan
